5 THINGS THAT DESCRIBE MY CULTURE:
MMMmmhh this is kind of hard for me because Im trying to think of the best 5 things that would define my culture and to be honest I have no idea what to say. I guess number one would be......
1. Music!! I am Caribbean (50% Guyanese and 50% St. Lucian, making me 100% Guylucian and proud!! lol) so music is a big part of who I am and our culture. The genre's in particular that come from the islands are reggae, dancehall reggae, calypso, soca, and chutney. Carnival's and party's where people can come together, eat and drink and just have a good time is important to West Indian culture. Music is a must at these events, put on the right song and everybody, young and old, is up on the dance floor.
2. Food!! Now all my best buds know I can eat! lol...I love food, cooking it, smelling it, but most of all devouring it. The food of my culture is unique and tasty. Spice is very important so most of our dishes have a kick to it. Important flavors include various peppers, curry, cumin, and cassereep just to name a few. Its a big thing in my culture to cook and feed people. When your offered food it's rude to decline. I was totally born into the right family because it's hard for me to say no to good food :). If I had to pick a favorite dish I honestly could not pick just one do Roti and curry, pepper pot, cook up rice, brown stew chicken, stew fish, rice and peas, soup with dumplings, chow mein, salt fish and bake, macaroni pie, Guyanese/Jamaican patties, and pine tarts are some of my favs!!
3. Language!! On my Mom's side we speak Kweh-yol or pat-wah which is a native language in St. Lucia. Unfortunately Im not fluent :(, but can understand common words and phrases used my my family and say a few things. Its a work in progress. As for my Dad's side the native language is English but their is a dialect that is unique to Guyana and its hard to explain but I understand it and can speak it.
4. Traditions!! There are so many, some of which are so normal to me that I did not realize that everyone did not live that way until I came to college. I guess the traditions that may be looked as weird are the things that we do that are considered superstitious like not being able to throw away bread the "normal way". I mention this because it reminds me of a story. When I first started living with my roommates I was constantly asked questions and one of these came when my bread in the fridge went bad and I yelled NOOOOO!!! when my roommate tried to toss it in the bin. I had to explain that in my house the only way we are allowed to throw away bread is if we wet it first. Weird I know but things like bread and salt are important and you can not just waste these things. And here I was thinking that my roommates are the weird ones but they will beg to differ lol.
5. Beliefs!! This is another thing that I believe is unique to our culture. Most of us are Christian but we practice it a little differently I have come to realize. How I usually describe the difference is sometime my cultural beliefs and "normal Christianity" but heads. Its hard for me to explain this so if you wanna know more its best you just ask. :)
Welp! That's my five things!! Hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed typing them out. Now how did this influence me to apply for this program?...Well first and foremost different cultures interest me. (my favorite part being food but that because I just love to eat and try new things lol) Being of African decent I have always wanted to visit the continent where it all started because I know a lot of my culture was created from African traditions. Getting a chance to not only visit Ghana but to also engage in its rich culture and learn about it first hand attracted me to apply to the program.
